How to pass your Practitioner PRINCE2 examThe technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.

Read more about these purposesKey takeaways

Passing PRINCE2 Practitioner is about applying PRINCE2 in context and managing your time under exam conditions.

  • The exam tests your ability to apply and tailor PRINCE2, not just recall definitions.Accept
  • Know the exam format: 70 scenario-based questions, 2.5 hours, with a 60% pass mark.
  • Use practice papers to master standard and matching question styles and build speed.Deny
  • Learn to navigate the manual quickly via contents, glossary, and index, rather than searching per question.
  • Plan time explicitly, either with equal time per question or a disciplined two-pass approach.View preferences
  • Arrive ready on exam day with the required setup, ID, and conditions to avoid preventable issues.

Introduction

Guide to passing the Practitioner PRINCE2 exam – ebook.

Note: This article was updated in November 2023 to reflect changes to the syllabus made since the launch of PreferencesPRINCE2 7 th edition . Any references to the PreferencesPRINCE2 manual in this article are to the latest edition.

If you came to this page because you wanted to book your Practitioner-level PRINCE2 exam, visit our PRINCE2 exams page.Is Change Management a Good Career? | Knowledge Train

Knowledge Train has helped thousands of people gain Practitioner-level The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user. PRINCE2 certification. Since 2012, our pass rate for the Practitioner exam has been 10% above the UK national average at 83%.

With thorough training methods and understanding about exam techniques our delegates consistently achieve their Practitioner-level PRINCE2 certification.

Practitioner exam purpose

The purpose of the exam is to assess whether you can apply and tailor PRINCE2 in context. If you pass the exam you should, with suitable direction, be able to start applying the method to a real project. However, you but may not be sufficiently skilled to do this appropriately in all situations.

Some factors which may affect your ability to apply PRINCE2 The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. on a real project includes your project management expertise, the complexity of the project The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you. and the support provided to you in the use of PRINCE2 in your work environment.

Assessment criteria

The exam assesses whether you are able to:

  • apply the PRINCE2 principles in context Marketing
  • apply successful people management in successful projects
  • apply and tailor relevant aspects of PRINCE2 practices Marketing and processes in context
  • assess whether an approach to applying the practices or processes is effective and fit for purpose in a given context
  • apply the practices of PRINCE2 , demonstrating an understanding of the key management products required to support the practices, and the relevant recommended roles and responsibilities
  • carry out the activities of the processes and their recommended actions, demonstrate an understanding of the inputs and outputs, recommended roles and responsibilities, and how the practices are applied. The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.

Prerequisites

You are required to have any one of the following:

What’s in the exam?

Questions

This contains all 70 questions, divided into topics. Each topic is clearly labelled e.g. PRINCIPLES, ORGANIZING PRACTICE, etc. The sequence of the topics follows the chapters in the PRINCE2 manual .

Scenario

In addition to the questions, the exam consists of a scenario which contains a fictional project. This describes an organization investing in a project and normally takes about 5 minutes to read. It is this scenario upon which all the questions are based.

Duration

The exam takes 2.5 hours to complete, and non-native English speakers get 25% more time!

You may use the PRINCE2 manual during the exam. If you have a license for the digital manual, you will be given access to it within the exam platform. Alternatively you may have your digital manual on a 2 nd device set to ‘flight mode’. If you have a physical PRINCE2 manual you may bring that the exam room instead.

Practitioner exam tip – use your digital manual.

PRINCE2 Practitioner exam tip – topics examined.

What’s examined?

You will be examined on all five elements of PRINCE2 : the principles, people, practices, processes, and tailoring of the method to the environment.

PRINCE2 Practitioner exam tip – marks breakdown

The total number of marks is 70 and the table below shows the allocation of marks for the different topics. The pass mark is 60% which means you must score 42 marks or more to pass.

Learning outcome Marks
Understand how to apply the PRINCE2 principles in context 7
Understand how to apply effective people management in successful projects 7
Understand how to apply and tailor relevant aspects of PRINCE2 practices in context 35
Understand how to apply (and tailor) relevant aspects of PRINCE2 processes in context 21

Answers

You select your answer on the screen. You may edit your answer if you think you have selected the wrong one. When selecting your answer, if you are not sure, you should flag it so you can quickly return to it later and change it if necessary.

Standard question.

Practitioner exam tip – example standard style question.

Matching question.

Practitioner exam tip - example matching question.

Trying the 2 sample exams which comes as part of your course will help you enormously. Timing yourself whilst completing practice papers is also crucial so that you become used to working at a speed required to pass all questions. We’ll talk about exam time-management a little later.

Familiarise yourself with the manual

Although you may take the manual into the exam, it’s pointless flicking through it for each question, when you could be using it only for the tricky parts.

When preparing for your exam I recommend that you study the Contents pages and try to remember where it is (it’s the 2nd page in the book). Then when you need to look something up during the exam you should quickly turn to the contents section to find the relevant chapter.

You might also find the glossary useful to quickly remind yourself of a definition. The glossary is at the end of the book, followed by a detailed index for more precise look ups.

Practitioner exam tip – time management strategy.

Practitioner exam tip – answers all 70 questions.

Things you need on your Practitioner exam day.

Pre-exam

Just prior to the examination starting, the exam proctor will ask you to show your photo ID, turn your camera 360 degrees to show the room, and will read out the instructions and rules for the exam.

During the exam

If English is not your first language you will automatically get 25% extra time – 188 minutes instead of 150!

Similarly, you may find completing the exam difficult if you have dyslexia or another medical condition. To get the extra time, you must contact PeopleCert before the exam with a report from your doctor or other medical professional proving your condition. This will then get approved by PeopleCert and you will be awarded extra time.

If you fail the exam, you can re-take it at a later date, although you will need to pay the exam fee again.

At the end of the exam, you will not be able to mark any more answers. If you finish the exam early you can submit your answers.

You will receive your exam result on screen as soon as the examination is over. You will receive confirmation by email shortly afterwards.

Conclusion

We hope you have found this guide to passing the PRINCE2 Practitioner exam useful. Thorough knowledge of PRINCE2 and a great exam technique should help you to pass your exam.

Study, effective revision and practicing sample exams will all boost your chances of passing the exam, and achieving a qualification recognized in industries throughout the world.

Infographic

Infographic about the PRINCE2 Practioner exam.